


Ink in the Flowers

by ElementalTitan



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cody and Padme are bros, Dex's Diner, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Florist Obi-Wan, Language Kink, M/M, Slow Burn, Tattoo Artist Cody, fight me, kind of, mandalorian kink, tattoo artist x florist au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:08:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28924827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElementalTitan/pseuds/ElementalTitan
Summary: When the new florist opened up over the road, Cody was intrigued. As was his best friend, Padme.The intrigue only increased when Cody met the owner in question. A handsome, elegant man by the name of Obi-Wan. And it wasn't long before he began to fall.Obi-Wan's new flower shop has not only opened up his freedom and career options but it's also beginning to expand his social circles. Starting with the tattoo shop and tea shop over the road. As well as possibly introducing him to the love of his life.
Relationships: Barriss Offee/Ahsoka Tano, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Past Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze - Relationship
Comments: 58
Kudos: 291





	1. The Opening

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the first chapter of my new fic and my first CodyWan fic (other than my oneshot)! 
> 
> Most of these chapters are pre-written and this first one is actually the shortest so they only get longer from here!

**Cody**

So they’d clearly gone for a softer, lighter theme than Cody had chosen for his own shop. The new florist across the street was being set up and whilst, no one in the shop had actually seen anyone working on it, it was coming along nicely.

Floor to ceiling windows covered the front of the store, clearly showing the bright and open interior. Flowers hung all above the window and the door itself, with a ladder and other wooden shelves placed in front of the window, also covered in plants and pots. The inside of the shop had yet to be filled but Cody could already tell that the plan was to pack it full of as many plants as possible, ranging from bright, blossoming arrangements to the simpler yet not less pretty cacti and succulents. Towards the back of the shop, there was a hanging arrangement of different coloured and designed ribbons and packing paper, supposedly for creating arrangements.

The front had been painted a soft cream and in a starkly contrasting black, the name had been styled in a flowy form above the shop.

Temple of Flowers

Cody’s own shop was painted a matte black with shining metallic gold paint for the shop's name and art. His shop was called the 212th Battalion Tattoos and it technically belongs to Cody’s father. Jango Fett was a legendary tattoo artist and had raised all of his sons to be the same. He had several shops but couldn’t run all of them at once so he handed several to his older children. Cody being one of those older children. All the staff were Cody’s brothers and that’s how Jango liked his businesses run.

Clearly, Cody has been spending too long looking out the window when he felt one of his brothers – likely Waxer – push his elbow out from under him. The same elbow with the hand holding his head up. Luckily, Cody caught himself before he hit the front desk he was leaning on before turning to glare. Waxer had retreated towards the back of the shop, now having moved onto harassing Boil trying to draw in the back.

The scarred man sighed and realised he really should be doing some more work whilst he had time in between sessions. Cody dropped down into his work chair, leaning onto his desk and lightbox to continue with his neo-traditional work. Time passed quickly as Cody continued to work, even as he moved onto making some more flash tattoos to put in the display book. Flash tattoos were quick and simple but that was what made Cody not a big fan of them. But they were a hit with people just passing through the city and easier for the more spontaneous people of the area.

He only looked up from his work 4 hours later at the sound of a truck’s reversing signal. His eyes peered around the front desk to see a green truck backing up to park outside the flower shop. It stayed there for a good half an hour as Cody assumed people were unloading it, unable to see around the sheer size of the vehicle. When it eventually left, the shop had started to fill and lots of plants were still littering the sidewalk.

Cody went to look back down at his work but a second before he could, he noticed a figure walking out of the shop. The man bent down to pick up a crate full of some kind of large red plants before standing up straight again. And Cody simultaneously felt his heart speed up, skip and then had the breath knocked from him.

The man was stunning.

Fiery auburn hair on his head matched his neatly trimmed beard and the colour looked wonderful with his fair skin tone. He was wearing what looked like the softest cream knit sweater, a smart pair of black trousers and brown boots. On the man’s right ear was a dangling gold and white flower earring and his left had a gold flower stud. Cody couldn’t see his eyes from where he sat but he imagined they’d be as stunning as the rest of the man. His posture was relaxed and calm, he almost looked as if he was floating when he moved. All collected and relaxed movements as he carried his wares into the store. Suddenly he laughed and for the first time, Cody noticed a blonde woman helping him with his plants, pots and other accessories.

Minutes later, the bell above the door to the tattoo studio range out as someone entered. Striding confidently into the waiting area was a fellow shop owner from over the road. A beautiful, fierce brunette by the name of Padme. Padme owned Naboolong which was a tea shop that she opened a couple of years after Cody’s own shop opened up. Despite being a tea store, they also did a brilliant range of caf. In each of her hands was a cardboard cup holder and in total there were 5 cups of caf for Cody and his brothers, an extra cup that was probably Padme’s tea. The woman had a tendency to pop over to the shop just to see the Fett’s and drink with them. Cody liked Padme, she was a passionate and caring person, with a fun and gossiping side that was reserved for her friends.

“I see you’ve noticed our new neighbours.” Padme smiled as she set the cup holders down.

Cody smiled and nodded as he waited for his brother to collect their caf’s with a warming thanks thrown Padme’s way from each of them. When they were finally gone and settled back into their work, Cody picked his cup up and motioned for Padme to sit on his tattoo chair.

“Yeah, didn’t take ‘em long to get set up, did it?” Cody hummed in delight as the caf hit his tongue.

Padme’s legs kicked in the air and Cody muffled a chuckle at her shortness. Padme noticed if the small kick aimed at his leg was anything to go by. “I’ve seen a few people floating around in there but the bearded guy is the most common one so I assume he’s the owner. I wonder what his name is.”

Cody lifted an eyebrow at the woman, “Go ask.”

“Maybe I will. Just not yet. Let them settle first.” They both hummed in agreement before dropping the subject of the florist.

They talked for a little longer, Boil and Wooley joined after a little while as well, asking Padme how business was going. Padme had been at the shop for about 20 minutes before Cody’s next client arrived. The brunette bid the brothers goodbye before making her way back to her store where one of her employees had been watching it.

As Cody was setting up his inks and his gun, he asked the client to get into position. Just before starting Cody chanced a glance back outside to the florist again. To his surprise, he was being watched. Or, well, his shop was. The beautiful man was locking his doors, his blonde friend beside him before locking eyes with Cody. A sweet smiled graced the man’s face as he lifted a hand to wave. Distractedly, Cody raised his hand in a two-fingered salute before getting back to his work.


	2. Gifts from the Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now the side of the story from Obi-Wan with an added sprinkle of Anakin in there as well!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit surprised by how well my first chapter went down but I'm so happy! Thank you guys so much for the support!
> 
> We even got come amazing fanart! Check out this incredible art by LeeLeebee on tumblr!  
> https://leeleebee.tumblr.com/post/641170061825015808/tattooist-florist-au-codywan-inspired-by-ink-in
> 
> I've gotten a few more chapters written up in advance as well, still not sure how many chapters this story will eventually get to but we're reaching 9. I should also add that after this chapter, they should start to get a bit longer as well.

**Obi-Wan**

It really hadn’t taken as long as he originally thought to get the shop set up. Although he was considered that he may have gone a bit overboard with ordering too many plants considering he didn’t have any set business or clients yet. Mind you, it didn’t help having Anakin leaning over his shoulder whispering persuasion into his ear to buy that flower, oh and maybe that one too.

Ahsoka just enjoyed painting the place up, she wanted to paint the window of the shop as well but Obi-Wan was a little more nervous about that. Maybe wait a little while to break the building in before trying that.

But so far, Obi-Wan was more than happy with the progress he was making. Whilst his younger siblings, Satine – his ex-fiance turned wine bestie – and Hondo – his frenemy - were overwhelming supportive and surprisingly helpful, Obi-Wan’s father was another story.

Qui-Gon Kenobi was a politician working for the Coruscant government and his particular area worked closely with the Mandalorian government. Unfortunately for him, he spoke very little Mando’a which is why having his eldest son employed with him was easier. Obi-Wan had spent the past 5 years working as a translator for his father and his Mandalorian counterparts. He adored the Mandalorian language and culture, having taken to studying their literature works at University. So when he handed his notice in without first consulting his father, suffice to say Qui-Gon was livid. The announcement that he and Satine had cancelled their engagement was further fuel to the fire.

There were a couple of weeks following both events that Obi-Wan will admit he fell into a bit of an existential crisis but Anakin and Ahsoka didn’t let him wallow too much. Dragging him to view different possible shops for the flower shop and then weighing the pros and cons of each. Obi-Wan had few hobbies when he was young, the two including literature and gardening. He found flowers and their meaning utterly fascinating, always loved telling a story or sending a message with the beautiful plants.

The singular moment that bought Obi-Wan out of his wallowing pit of self-doubt was when he found the shop on Kamino Street. It was large, open and bright. A little bit more run down that he was looking for but nowhere else could Obi-Wan immediately see his future like he could here. The street itself was relatively peaceful with slow traffic inflow and various other shops. His younger siblings were also big fans of the street - although Obi-Wan is fairly sure that the beautiful woman in the tea shop was Anakin’s main reason for agreeing to his decision.

And if he was being completely honest with himself, Obi-Wan only became more certain of his choice when he saw the man across the street. There was a dark-painted tattoo studio next to the tea shop across the road named 212th Battalion Tattoos. He’d seen various men in the studio, all looking fairly similar to each other so Obi-Wan assumed they were related in some kind of way but there was one man that was there almost every day. He seemed a little older than the rest and had a large scar that spanned the space above his left eyebrow, cutting through it slightly and running down his temple, stopping under his eye, just on his cheekbone. The man had beautiful dark, caramel toned skin with dark cropped hair and Obi-Wan could _appreciate_ his body type. Taller than Obi-Wan, clearly, but built and muscular in all the best places. Ahsoka had definitely scoffed and shook her head at seeing both of her brothers drooling away.

It didn’t take long to settle the deal with the shop’s previous owner and soon the shop was officially in Obi-Wan Kenobi’s name. A few more weeks after that, the Kenobi-Skywalkers slowly filled the shop with various plants, pots and other accessories. On the final day of setting things up, Satine was helping. Despite the ruined engagement, she was still Obi-Wan’s closest friend and a great supporter of him living his best life, or at least, trying to. It was also happened to be the same day that Obi-Wan had his first interaction with the perfect man over the road, even if that interaction was a simple wave.

It gave Obi-Wan an idea…

* * *

  
The next day saw Obi-Wan arriving at his store a few hours before it was even due to open to make sure everything was perfect for the first day. He couldn’t help the tingle of nerves and excitement in his gut when he turned the door sign over to ‘Open’.

Looking out the front window, he would see that the studio wasn’t quite open yet although there was one singular light on inside. It was a Monday and according to the website, they didn’t open until 12pm on Mondays whereas the rest of the week was 9am – 7pm with the exception of closing two hours earlier on a Friday. And yes, Obi-Wan had spent an obscenely long amount of time on that website. Turns out there was an Artist Bio section (which in reality made complete sense but Obi-Wan hadn’t previously thought of it). Under each artist’s name and bio picture was a brief description of them and their specialities, with a folder of all their artworks attached.

Obi-Wan was correct in the assumption that the men were all related with the bio’s confirming them all to be brothers. And also confirming that Obi-Wan’s dream man was indeed the owner, a mysterious man by the name of Cody Fett. Cody’s art was phenomenal, it seems that he did pretty much any style of tattoo but bold and colourful seemed to be his speciality.

Shaking his head, Obi-Wan turned his attention to the tea shop and found it to be open and very busy. Which, again, made sense for a tea and caf shop on an early Monday morning. There were three women inside working as fast as they could yet at the same time making the whole process look easy and almost like fun as they laughed and smiled among themselves.

The bearded man turned his back to the window and walked back over to the counter where he had just finished making an example arrangement to sit at the front of the store for a while. Next to the arrangement were two plants in their own pots. A white pot with a flourishing String of Pearl and a gold pot with a small Aloe Vera.

Obi-Wan was cleaning his workspace when he looked up to the sound of the door opening, a couple people walked in with a warm greeting and Obi-wan said hello back. The people were followed by his younger siblings and they headed towards him at the back. The other people were admiring a varying range of hyacinths as Ahsoka went to talk to them and Anakin joined him at the counter.

“So, they’re the gifts you went with then?” Anakin pointed to the pots on the counter.

“Indeed, and if you ask nicely, perhaps I’ll let you take the Pearls to the tea shop.” Obi-Wan smirked and raised an eyebrow at the dusting of red that crossed Anakin’s cheeks.

“If you let me do that, I’ll watch the shop whilst you take the Aloe to the tattoo studio.”

Obi-Wan’s face dropped at Anakin’s slight teased and instead of biting a response back, he pushed the white pot into his younger brother’s hands. 


	3. Good Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, the third instalment for this one! And they're finally meeting! Enjoy!

**Cody**

Cody didn’t mind Monday’s compared to most people. He had a later start to his work day which allowed him more time to relax. He lived above the studio which eliminated the need to commute as well, definitely a plus in Cody’s book. Two of his brothers – Waxer and Boil – lived only a 10 minute jog from the studio as well so most morning’s Cody would end up jogging to theirs and using the home gym in the garage. He spent a little over an hour with his brothers, joining them for a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes.

Cody had a few more pieces of art he wanted to work on before opening the shift, so he quickly showered once he got back home and got dressed into a black Henley and grey jeans. He left the towel on top of his curly hair as he went downstairs and turned the lightbox on at his desk.

The world had clearly come to life outside the studio, the traffic had picked up a little and Cody could hear the tea shop next door bustling with activity. Looking through the window, he also noticed a light on in the florist although the sign was still flipped to closed. Ducking his head down, Cody added to the piece he was working on and stood up. It was a few minutes before opening and the lock to the door opened as Wooley strode in.

“Morning, _vod_.” Cody nodded and Wooley grinned back, giving his older brother a clap on the back.

“We’re pretty busy today aren’t we?”

Cody nodded and flipped the sign on the door to open, “Yup, good day for business.”

It wasn’t long before both of their first clients of the day showed up and the brothers got to work. Cody was working on a traditional design of a black panther on a woman’s back whilst Wooley had a watercolour of some ocean themed animals for a younger man. Peaking up for just a second, Cody noticed a man with brunet hair down to his shoulders was just walking out of the florists and was heading to the tea shop. The scarred man played no mind and continued with the tattoo, a couple had come in to enquire about some flash tattoos so Cody was hoping to get them done straight after this traditional.

Boil had joined them about an hour into their work and sat at the front desk, taking reception duty for the morning. They had a few phone calls to book in some consultations or just book the sessions straight up, the calls had begun to pick up as the day progressed. Cody was proud of his studio, it was very popular and many people would travel from quite far distances just to have consultations. Each brother had a different speciality which gave his studio a good variety of work to display and Cody knew that out of all the branches Jango owned, his was the most profitable and the busiest. Closely followed by 501st Battalion which was run by Rex, Cody’s beloved younger brother.

Cody had finished the flash tattoos on the couple that popped in, when Boil went next door to grab some caf. Wooley had another appointment booked straight after his watercolour – a whole back piece on a heavily muscled guy – so his brothers knew he would need the brown go-go juice as Waxer called. In the meantime, Cody took up position on the reception computer and spent his time answer some emails to clients.

The bell above the door rang out and it took Cody a few seconds to drag his eyes up, away from the screen. And when he did, he was rewarded with a pleasant surprise.

The gorgeous man from the florist was standing in Cody’s waiting room with what looked like a plant in his hands and a stunning smile on his face.

Cody’s breath left him for a good minute as he stared at the man before him and he felt his mouth drop slightly.

“Um… h-hello?” The man stammered a little unsure of himself as Cody continued to stare at him.

Shaking himself, Cody stood up and rounded the desk. “Hi.”

Later Cody would smack himself for choosing that as his first sentence but at the time, it was all Cody could do to not start drooling or professing his love. Luckily the man must have found it funny as he laughed and took another step forwards.

“Hello there. I’m your new neighbour, I own the florists. My name’s Obi-Wan.” He held a handout to Cody and it took Cody a little longer than he would like to admit to take the hand. “And in the spirit of being a good neighbour, I bring a gift.”

He held out the plant to Cody and the scarred man lifted it from the fair hands, “Oh! Thank you, there was no need but it’s lovely. The name’s Cody.”

The man smiled only got bigger and they were both a little quiet for a moment. Cody looked down at the plant in his hands, it was a little small (which the man wasn’t sure if it was meant to be or not) and it had long leaves that were a little squishy but had tiny sharp spines running along the edges. Cody loved it.

“It’s an Aloe Vera.” The man – Obi-Wan’s – soothing voice bought Cody’s attention back to him. “They’re really easy to look after. Just keep out of direct sunlight and water about once a week and it should thrive. It’s only a pup, a baby. So it should go to be quite big.”

Obi-Wan looked around a little more, “You own this studio then?”

Cody found himself smiling back at the pleasant man, “Well, technically my _buir_ owns it but I run it. It’s my pride and joy. Been here a good few years now.”

Suddenly, Obi-Wan’s attention slipped from looking at the artwork and shot back to looking right at Cody, “ _Buir_? You’re Mandalorian?”

“In a way. Wasn’t born there but my _buir_ was and he raised us on Mando culture.”

“Well to them, that’s more than enough to qualify you.”

Cody laughed lightly, “Very true. You know a little Mando’a then?”

The red head went to open his mouth but suddenly Cody could hear his name being called. He hadn’t seen Boil come back in with the caf, neither had he seen his next client walk in and sit down to wait in the sitting area.

“Sorry, I need to get back to this-”

Obi-Wan held a hand to halt Cody, “Say no more, I’m being a distraction. I will take my leave then. Don’t be afraid to pop over, my doors always open. Especially between the hours of 9 and 5.”

Cody laughed again as the man retreated from the studio and back to his shop. The scarred man turned around to head back to his work area. Boil followed behind him with caf in hand. When Cody turned to take his drink, he found both his brothers smirking at him.

“What?”

They looked at each other before looking back at Cody, “You never laugh at people that much.”

“Yes I do, what are you talking about?”

“At us, sure but anyone that’s not a Fett… no, you don’t. Like ever.” Wooley reasoned.

“Cody’s got a crush!”

The scarred man reached forward to twist Boil’s ear pulling the man down to where he was sitting, “Shut up, _di’kut,_ and get back to work before you’re looking for a new job.”

Both his brothers went to respond but quickly changed their mind at Cody’s look. As soon as Boil walked away, Cody motioned for his client to join him and got back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a transaltions:
> 
> Vod - Sibling  
> Buir - Parent  
> Di'kut - Idiot


	4. Wine Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the idea of Cody and Padme being besties...
> 
> Enjoy!

**Cody**

Cody worked on 2 more clients before it was time for the studio to close. His last appointment had been one he had been looking forward too. A neo-traditional piece of a black cat and golden flowers. Neo-traditional was Cody’s favourite and he always enjoyed working on them, although the client was far from one of Cody’s favourite. He’d been in a few times before and each time made a play Cody. Whilst the tattoo was fine, Cody had heard more than enough pointless flirting and unimaginative pick-up lines during the session that he was mentally exhausted.

It was starting to get dark outside now and he was soon joined by Padme who let herself in with her spare key.

“You look tired, Codes.” Padme laughed and she stole the chair from under Cody as he went to sit.

“And yet, you steal the chair out from old exhausted me.”

Cody slapped the side of Padme's foot and turned to lean back against his table. Padme spun in his chair for a second and pulled her legs up to cross them in the seat. The soft lights of the studio glinted off of Padme's soft, slightly curled hair and she smelled of rich caf and a sweetness that came with the caf flavour syrups. 

“Hey, I never said I wasn’t also tired.” Padme laughed as she pulled two bottles of wine from her canvas bag. Cody laughed but reached out to take a bottle. The studio usually had rules about drinks and food in the tattoo area due to sterilisation reasons but this late, he knew that there was no risk and if for whatever reason a mess was made, Cody would have plenty of time to clear it away. 

He unscrewed the cap until it was almost completely off and then flicked it with his fingers across the room, making Padme laugh at him. She opened her bottle and they clinked bottles before taking a chug each. Cody enjoyed wine nights, they turned off all but two lights in the studio, give it a cosier setting and drank until Cody realised he needed to sleep if he was going to be able to safely tattoo the next day. More often than not, Padme would usually end up coming upstairs to the flat he lived in above the studio and crashing on the sofa. If they both had a late start or little gods forbid, a morning off, then they would head down to Dex's Diner for breakfast. 

“I had a visitor today.” Padme spoke after a while.

“Oh? Me too.”

Padme hummed and switched her crossed legs over, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as something to her right seems to call her attention away from Cody. 

“I know, saw the plant. I got a String of Pearls.”

The Aloe Vera was sitting on the front desk, next to the computer. He liked the gold pot it had come in, perfectly matching the golden accents throughout the studio. He was fairly sure that it was a careful design plan of Obi-Wan's and found himself wondering what style pot he had given Padme. He also wondered what the meaning was behind each of the plants that had clearly been chosen for them. 

“Aloe Vera. What did you think of him?” Cody hummed as he hopped up onto the table and swigged more of the wine.

“Cute, he seemed so nervous to speak to me. Will admit it was rather adorable.” A light blush spread over Padme’s cheeks.

Cody’s eyebrows furrowed, “Nervous? I feel like we met different people. Obi-Wan?”

“No, mine was Anakin.”

“I was gonna say. Mine was less adorable and more absolutely stunning. I mean, kriff”

Padme laughed almost choking on her wine, “Cody!”

They both laughed some more and continued with their wine.

“No, I say adorable but he is quite handsome, definitely my type.” Padme lifted her feet until they were on Cody’s lap, heeled boots and all. “So, this Obi-Wan, is he good enough for my bestie?”

Cody rolled his eyes, “Literally met him once _,_ Pads.”

Padme snorted in an unladylike manner and swigged her wine, her eyes never moving from his. There was a clear message in her eyes as she peered at him before she slumped back in her (his) chair with the wine bottle resting on her knee.

“Yeah but was he, you know, charming? Suave? Funny?”

“Yes, yes and yes.” They started at each silently before laughing again.

Padme looked out the window and sat up a little, though she kept her feet in Cody’s lap. Her eyes had widened and there was a look of delighted surprise on her face. She lifted the hand holding the wine bottle and pointed out the window, across the street. Cody’s gaze followed to where she was pointing.

“Looks like we’re not the only losers staying at home tonight.” Padme laughed as she looked back at Cody.

Across the road, the light was still on in the florist and a pizza boy stood at the door, passing boxes to a man. The man looked younger than Obi-Wan and had shoulder length, scruffy brown hair. This must be Anakin then, Cody mused.

Behind Anakin, Obi-Wan was sitting on a stool near his front desk and there was a girl sitting on the actual desk. She looked younger and had dark skin, if Cody looked closer she also had vitiligo on her face. Her hair was braided into box braids and dyed a mix of silver and dark blue, most of it down with two small space buns on top of her head.

She jumped off the counter as Anakin turned back to go inside the shop with the food. The three of them laughed as the girl opened the box before he could get further into the shop.

“I want pizza.” Padme smirked as she looked at Cody and suddenly, the man got where she was going with this.

“Padme, no.” Cody pointed a finger at her. “We barely know these people!”

Padme threw her arms in the air, wine bottle sloshing slightly from the sudden movement. She stayed seated though, the chair twisting ever so slightly away from Cody meaning Padme had to wiggle her hips to bring the chair back around to face him. 

“All the more reason to get to know them!”

Then Padme was up on her feet and making her way to the front desk. She found a piece of paper in the draw and a big marker. She scribbled on it for a second and then smiled back at Cody as she walked to the window. Sure enough, Anakin had turned to lock the shop door again as Padme slammed the paper against the window.

“What does that even say?”

“We share wine, you share pizza?”

Cody laughed but continued to watch the florists over the road. Anakin had noticed Padme’s note wand was grinning away when he turned back to the others, seemingly speaking with them. The girl disappeared for a second but returned not long after to with her own note.

**DEAL**

Padme laughed and ran back to Cody, grabbing his arm and dragging him to the door. He pulled his leather jacket on and made sure Padme had her coat on as well. Cody unlocked the door and stepped out onto the street, waiting for Padme to come out before re-locking the studio. The brunette left in the street for a second as she dove back into her closed tea shop. Cody was only stood there for 5-10 minutes tops before she reappeared, a canvas bag with a couple more bottles of wine. The scarred man laughed at his friends before they looped arms and strode across the street.

“Is this a good idea, Padme?”

“Oh, hush, you. This is a great idea.” Padme pulled Cody closer, “We’re being social.”


	5. We Can't Both Be Tops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we finally meet one of my fav Star Wars characters of all time! Plus some more sibling and bestie times!
> 
> I'd like to add that I'm from the UK and legal drinking age here is 18 years old (as it should be ;) )
> 
> Enjoy!

**Cody**

The pair arrived at the door to the florist and Anakin came to unlock it again. His smiled had taken a little more of a nervous turn compared to earlier as he unlocked the door. Padme smiled brightly at him, as friendly and confident as ever.

“Hey, Anakin right?”

A light blush spread across his face, “Yeah. Evening, Padme! And Cody?”

Cody blinked in surprise at hearing his name, “That’s me, take it Padme mentioned me.”

“Uh no, my brother did.” Behind where Anakin was standing, Cody saw Obi-Wan smirk a little and wink at him.

Next to him, Padme smothered a laugh before holding the canvas bag out to Anakin. He took the bag and opened it, laughing a little. He stepped back, letting Cody and Padme into the shop. There weren’t enough stools for everyone so someone had decided to pull a blanket out from the back and lay it onto the floor. The pizza and side dishes were already spread about, with both Obi-Wan and the mysterious girl sitting on the blanket.

“Well, since no one will introduce us, I’m Ahsoka.” The girl smiled and gave a little wave, “I’m the youngest and most mature.”

The last remark earned her a scalding look from her older brothers and a laugh from Padme and Cody. They joined the family on the blanket and Padme pulled the wine from her canvas page. She hesitated for a moment, looking at Ahsoka remembering how much younger she looked than the rest of them.

“Relax, I know I look like a baby but I’m 19, promise.” Ahsoka smiled sweetly and Padme continued as she was. 

Anakin was sat to Padme’s right whilst Cody was on her left. Ahsoka was across from Cody and Obi-Wan was to her right. The pizza and wine bottles sat in the middle of the circle.

“I’m glad we ended up ordering one of the extra large meal deals, there should be enough for all of us.” Obi-Wan smiled as he leaned forwards to pick up a slice of pizza.

“So, when Obie and Skyguy mentioned you two earlier, I don’t think we realised you were a couple.” Ahsoka said casually as she shoved a handful of potato wedges into her mouth and all four other people choked either on air or on food.

It took Cody a minute to remember how to breathe as he patted Padme’s back, her eyes beginning to water. Anakin and Obi-Wan’s face had turned bright red and Cody was very confused for a good minute. The scarred man tried to speak but couldn’t find any words to say, a long drawn out noise just coming from him. Luckily, Padme came to the rescue.

“Oh, we’re really not a couple. Like, at all.” Padme laughed, “Cody’s gay and we can’t both be tops.”

Well, maybe rescue was a strong word. Ahsoka and Padme laughed as the men once more began to choke on thin air. Just when he thought Anakin’s face couldn’t get any redder.

“Not something they needed to know, Amidala!”

Cody reached forward for his wine and took a very large swig of it, needing something to get him through this. A stronger drink would’ve been preferred but wine would have to do.

Anakin’s face was beginning to settle into a normal shade but Obi-Wan’s wasn’t going down. Ahsoka was looking at the oldest brothers face as she laughed. Padme was wiping away tears as she looked over slyly at her best friend, knowing full well what she was doing. Obi-Wan was also watching Cody out the corner of his eye and when the scarred man looked over at him, the blushing only got worse.

“Oh, we’re gonna be friends.” Ahsoka reached across the stacks of pizza to shake Padme’s hand and Cody had a feeling that his friendship was something that would come back to bite him in the ass.

Anakin had gotten through a large amount of the wine in his bottle, almost finished when he tried to move the conversation on a bit, “So, you guys are neighbours huh?”

“Yeah,” Padme looked over to him, “I’ve had the tea shop for about 3 years and Cody’s had the studio for about 5 but it’s been there longer. “

“Longer?” Obi-Wan looked up in curiosity.

“My dad owned the shop before me, he had two at the time he had 212th. But at the time they were both just called Mando’ade tattoos.”

Anakin and Ahsoka went quiet before looking at each other whilst Obi-Wan’s went a little blank for a second and then another faint blush dusted his fair skin cheeks.

“Mando’ade?” Anakin asked with a slightly cheeky smirk on his face. This was new information to Anakin and Ahsoka.

Cody looked at Padme, wondering if something was wrong, “Yeah, my families from Mandalore. Well, my brothers and I weren’t born there but dad raised us on Mandalorian culture and we grew up speaking Mando’a more than we spoke Basic, hence why my accents a bit different.”

Cody then took his leather jacket off and pulled the right sleeve of his Henley up to show the group one of his tattoos. Wrapped around the inside was a realistic Mythosaur skull, the symbol of Mandalore. Cody was incredibly proud of his culture, they’d been raised on the traditional Mandalorian beliefs and a lot of the Fett’s had served in the Mandalorian Corp for a year or two, some for even longer. The Death Watch and Pacifist movements had upset Cody’s father, Jango, which lead him to move to Coruscant where he met their mother. Whilst the two major movements were not something the Fett’s were interested in, they carried on fulfilling the traditional ways.

“All the Fett kids have the skull tattooed on them in one way or another, some a little smaller, but I love my culture and my upbringing. So, made mine pretty damn big and made sure it was plenty visible.” 

Cody stopped speaking and looked up, suddenly aware of how long he’d been talking for. Anakin and Ahsoka looked mildly impressed and Obi-Wan also looking impressed but also a little faint, a red blush dusting his cheeks and posture tense. Looking to the side, Padme had noticed Obi-Wan’s reaction to what Cody had been saying and couldn’t help the sly smirk on her face.

“That-That’s very interesting.” Obi-Wan stood up suddenly, “I just need to go, um, go check on some… stock in the back.”

The older man turned on the spot and walked off through a doorway, into what Cody’s assumed was the stock room or just a back room. His younger siblings were clearly trying not to laugh and covered it by either drinking wine or shoving pizza into his mouth.

Cody was a little confused and looked to his friend, Padme had an incredibly smug look on her face as she looked back at her friend. Padme didn’t need words to make Cody realised what had just happened, raising her eyebrows and give him a look up and down. The realisation hit Cody like a train.

Oh.

_Oh!_

Well, it wouldn’t be the first time someone found the Mandalorian in Cody attractive. It was the first time that it was someone that Cody himself was genuinely interested in though. 

“So, Ahsoka, you in college or…?” Padme tried to move the conversation on.


	6. New Day = New Opportunities

**Obi-Wan**

Ahsoka and Anakin were clearly having the time of their lives as they sat on the stools, laughing whilst Obi-Wan was stuffing empty pizza boxes into a black bag. Finally frustrated with his sibling’s behaviour, Obi-Wan threw the bag to the floor. 

“I’m glad you found yesterday evening funny.”

Anakin pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side, “Well, yeah, can you blame us?”

“You’ve spent the whole day droning on about how hot this guy was,” Ahsoka decided this was her time to step in, “And then the second it comes out that he’s Mando, that was just the icing on your very single and thirsty cake.”

They started laughing uncontrollably again and Obi-Wan sighed. They weren’t exactly wrong, hearing Cody talk about his Mando history had immediately made the man all the more attractive and Obi-Wan had found himself suddenly feeling very flushed. He very much needed to get out of the vicinity of the man before he lost all self-control and jumped him.

“So, Anakin, what about Padme?” Ahsoka had decided that going for Obi-Wan had become less fun and turned onto the middle child of the family.

This was Obi-Wan’s turn to start laughing. Whilst he’d managed to keep most of his dignity and gushing under control, Anakin had completely failed. He’d spent the evening continuously blushing and very obviously flirting but, in the most embarrassing way possible. Half his words weren’t coming out as actually fully formed and the occasional odd noise would appear. Padme had clearly found Anakin amusing but on the other hand, she also seemed to blush and laugh a little. So maybe there was hope for him yet.

Obi-Wan himself had found Cody glancing over at him a few times throughout the rest of the evening and the looks certainly had their own warmth to them. Which gave Obi-Wan more than just a little bit of hope.

Out the corner of his eye, Obi-Wan noticed Ahsoka disappear and reappear from the back room, carrying some pots of paints and brushes. Obi-Wan sighed and crossed his arms as he looked at his younger sister.

“Hey, you said that when we were settled in, I could paint the glass.” Ahsoka defended herself, “We’ve had dinner with the neighbours, have regular clients and some flower arrangement orders coming up, that sounds pretty settled in to me!”

The brothers looked at each other over their sister’s shoulder and sure enough, Anakin just shrugged went back to his pod racing magazine. Obi-Wan knew there was no point in trying to dissuade Ahsoka and besides, she was a brilliant artist, he knew it would come out wonderful. 

Ahsoka set up outside with her equipment after moving everything out of the way and stuck her AirPods in. Whilst she was painting, Obi-Wan got to serving his customers, helping them pick the perfect flowers for the right situation and then when he had a lull, he started to design a bouquet that had been requesting for a marriage proposal. Anakin was, well Obi-Wan wasn’t sure, but he’d headed towards the back of the shop somewhere.

A few hours into the shift, a girl from the tea shop came over to see Obi-Wan from across the street. She apologised that Padme had wanted to come over herself but it was too busy so she was sending the new girl. The girl, Yané, had bought a cup of Lapsang souchong for Obi-Wan, a bitter cup of caf for Anakin and a caramel frappe for Ahsoka. Obi-Wan asked the younger girl to give Padme his thanks as she went on her way. The older man watched as Yané went into the tattoo studio before heading back to the tea shop. Peering across the street to the inside of the studio, Obi-Wan could see two artists at work and one on the front desk. Cody was one of the one’s working away on a woman’s chest tattoo, now with a steaming cup next to him but not on the same table as his inks.

Soon, Obi-Wan was swept back up into helping his customers and distracted from the studio for once.

**Cody**

Cody and Boil had swapped places once Cody had finished his morning appointments. For a few minutes Cody was determined to get through his admin work and catch up on some accounting, but it wasn’t long before he got distracted again. This time though it wasn’t Obi-Wan that was the cause of his distraction, it was his younger sister. Well, her artwork.

Ahsoka was sitting cross-legged on the floor on a blanket as she was painting the other half of the window, starting from the bottom. She had already painted a sunflower and various outdoor plants on the other half of the window and the current half she was working on was clearly aimed for indoor plants.

And it was really good. Like, really, really good.

Cody stood from the reception counter and rounded it to stand at his studio window, peering out at Ahsoka’s art. Boil joined him a few minutes later after his client had left.

“She’s kriffing good, Codes.”

“Why’d you think I’m watching?” Cody smirked, “She’s got a steady hand and she’s not using a stencil, as far as I can see she’s not working from a notebook either.”

Cody looked at Boil, catching the look in his eye and then turned to see the same look on Waxer’s face as he looked up from working on his client. Grabbing his jacket from the hook, Cody slung it on and left the studio in his brother’s care as he crossed the street. Two plans in his mind. One for Ahsoka and one for Obi-Wan.

Narrowly avoiding an oncoming car, Cody stepped on to path next to where Ahsoka was working. He tried to make himself known without speaking so as to avoid making the younger girl jump, wouldn’t do well for her when mid-brush stroke.

After a few seconds, she turned to look up at him, “Cody, right? What’s up?”

“You’re really good at this, do art a lot?”

“Thanks,” Ahsoka smiled, fully aware that she was good which Cody admired, “wanna see my book?”

Cody nodded and from a canvas rucksack, Ahsoka pulled out a tattered notebook filled to the brim. He started flicking through the pages as Ahsoka went back to her work, finished off the leaf of a monstera plant. The book contained a variety of different styles and mediums, showing a good array of her skill. The subjects were anything from plants and pods to portraits both of family and friends. A few ones of Anakin and Obi-Wan popped up occasionally, one also of the blond woman he’d seen helping Obi-Wan when setting the shop up. She looked familiar but Cody brushed it off, focusing on what he came to the florist's to do.

He handed the book back to Ahsoka and she looked back at him with a question in her expression.

“So, you want an apprenticeship?”

Ahsoka choked on air at the question, “Wait, what?”

“Well, last night you said you weren’t in college yet and you weren’t sure what you wanted to do, just that you loved drawing. When you said about your art, I didn’t realise you meant this.” Cody gestured to the window, “So? It would just be practising some stencils and drawings before moving onto a practice gun and fake skin. Of course, you don’t have to, just thought you might be interested.”

“Yes!”

Cody looked down at Ahsoka in surprise at how loud she was.

“I would love that, it sounds amazing. When do I start? Are you teaching me? Do I need to get anything?”

The scarred man laughed at her eagerness, “Well, eventually you’ll need your own guns and inks but I’ve got some you can have for now. Why don’t you come over to the studio just before opening tomorrow, say 8:30?”

“Sounds like a plan!” Ahsoka grinned up at him, “Now, if you’re after Obi-Wan, he’s not busy at the moment.”

Cody smirked and reached down to ruffle Ahsoka’s loose braids, “Thanks, _ad’ika_.”

The door opened and a lady walked out, Cody reached to grab the door for her receiving a smile in return. The scarred man stepped into the shop and walked up to the front desk. Obi-Wan was looking down at a list of incoming stock, not realising it was Cody that had come in.

“How can help y- oh, Cody.” Obi-Wan’s polite smiled changed to a flirty smirk as he looked up at the younger man.

“Obi-Wan.” Cody smiled, crossed his arms and leant his elbows on the desk. “I’m feeling pretty sure of myself today so I’m hoping this doesn’t backfire.”

Obi-Wan’s smirk only widened as he lifted a hand to stroke his beard, “Oh? Then please, dear one, shoot your shot.”

“There’s a diner down the street, Dex’s. Fancy a bite later?”

“I suppose it could be fun.” Obi-Wan leant forwards, till their faces were a few inches apart and Cody grinned.

“Well, my shop doesn’t shut until 7 tonight, I can come over after?”

“Sounds like a plan. There’s a doorbell next to the front door, just give it a ring when you’re outside.”

Smacking his hands on the counter, Cody leaned back still with a big grin in his face “I’ll see you then. Have a good day, _mesh’la_.”

The Mandalorian complement caused Obi-Wan’s face to flush bright red and Cody chuckled to himself as he turned to leave the florist.


	7. Dex's Diner

**Obi-Wan**

Despite how confident he acted, the second Cody walked out the door, Obi-Wan let out a huge sigh. And then couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face. He was going on a date. With Cody. With Mr Tattooed Mando God Cody.

The door burst open suddenly and Ahsoka ran in with a huge grin in her face, phone clutched in one hand and a paint brush in the other. Neither sibling said anything, just looked at each other with their big smiles. Until Anakin walked in and their big smiles turn towards him, not fading in the slightest.

Anakin’s calm face turn to one of concern as he took a step back, “What’s wrong?”

“Cody’s given me an apprenticeship!”

“Cody asked me to dinner!”

The three siblings all looked between each other, each with surprised looks on their face. Anakin has a smile slowly passing onto his face whilst Ahsoka and Obi-Wan both had one of surprise.

“I’m gonna be completely honest; Obi-Wan, really not surprised, even I saw that coming and that’s saying something!” Anakin clapped his hands and turned his full attention to his little sister, “Ahsoka, continue.”

Obi-Wan’s face looked slightly offended but also mildly understood and also turned to Ahsoka. Ahsoka had always been hard-working and passionate, the only issue is that she didn’t always have something to aim that passion at. This was the first time she seemed to actually focus on one potential career.

“He saw me doing the window and asked if he could see my sketchbook. And then he just…asked! Just like that! How cool is this? This could be, like, an actual career for me! A super cool one as well!” Ahsoka babbled excitedly as her brother’s watched her.

“And then he came in and asked me to dinner.” Obi-Wan finished the story, leaning his elbow on the counter.

“Okay, well, I’m happy for both of you.” Anakin smiled before holding his empty coffee cup up, “In the meantime, Padme wrote me a note on the coffee cup with her number under it.”

Obi-Wan chuckled and Ahsoka gave her young brother a smack on the shoulder.

It was looking like Obi-Wan’s shop really was bringing them all good things.

-

It was taking Obi-Wan far too long to pick what to wear for the diner tonight. It took a video call with Satine to get something that he actually liked; dark blue jeans with a black cotton turtleneck, knee-high dark brown boots and a dark brown peacoat. He made sure to style his hair and neatly trim up his beard as well. A pair of diamond earrings sat on his upper lobes – a gift from Satine – and a tiny pair of small gold hoops sat in his standard lobes.

The older man quickly lined his eyes with a little bit of kohl and added a light gold highlighter to his upper cheekbones. Finally, swiping on a little bit of clear lip gloss.

It wasn’t long before the doorbell rung up to his apartment and Obi-Wan ran to the door to answer the ring.

“Give me a second, Cody, I’ll be right down.”

Obi-Wan pocketed his phone and wallet before making his way downstairs, into the shop. Cody was stood outside the front door, dark jeans with a leather motorcycle jacket and black Dr Marten’s. It was the second time Obi-Wan had seen Cody wearing that jacket and it was already Obi-Wan’s favourite clothing article that that the man owned. He was pretty sure the only thing that could rival that would be the jacket along with the rest of Cody’s clothes lying on a bedroom floor, either his or Cody’s would do.

“Hello there, my dear.” Obi-Wan opened the door with a flourish and a grin on his face.

The younger man turned around with a small smile on his face and his hands tucked into his jacket. The light above the door reflected the molten gold of Cody’s eyes and even glinted off of the shiny skin of his scar. Obi-Wan resisted the urge to swoon in the man’s presence and locked the shop door behind him.

Turning back around, Obi-Wan noted that Cody had held an elbow out and grinned as he lopped his arm around it.

“Ever been to Dex’s?”

“Can’t say I have, dear.” Obi-Wan tucked his spare hand into his coat.

“It’s got a good variety of things but I thought you’d be interested given its fusion of Coruscant dishes with Mandalorian dishes.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Obi-Wan could see a small smirk on the man’s face.

“Oh, really?” Obi-Wan feigned ignorance, “What makes you think I’ll like that?”

Cody let out a slight chuckle, “Based on your reaction to my being Mandalorian the other night, I’m just going to assume you have an interest in all things Mando.”

Obi-Wan felt a blush spread across his cheeks at Cody’s comment. He had hoped that the man hadn’t noticed but clearly, he had been more obvious then desired. Obi-Wan was unsure if Cody knowing about this interest would come back to bite him, especially if Cody realised it would give him the upper hand in any bedroom situation.

Before Obi-Wan could give Cody a reply, the pair came to a stop outside of an old-fashioned diner decorated in reds and greys. It seemed relatively busy and the smell of fresh chips, spicy broths and caf drifted from the diner as customers came and went.

Cody walked up to the door and opened it up, allowing Obi-Wan to walk in first. The older man didn’t realise how hungry he really was until he was inside. It was only a few seconds before a large man walked through a swinging pair of kitchen doors and into the main dining area. The man scanned the diner for a moment before his dark eyes landed on Cody.

“Fett!” The man called loudly and pushed his way out from behind the counter, “It’s good to see you, my boy!”

Cody smiled and shook hands with the man before turning the attention to Obi-Wan, “Dex, meet Obi-Wan. New to the area and looking forward to settling in.”

“Ah, moved in nearby have we?” Dex led the pair to an empty booth to seat them.

“Well, I’ve just opened a florist down the street, just across from Cody’s shop actually.” Obi-Wan smiled as Cody handed him a menu.

Dex’s grin only widened, “A fellow shop owner! Good, good! Well, let me know when you’re ready and I hope to be seeing more of you.”

Dex gave a nod and then made his way back behind the counter, leaving Cody and Obi-Wan. They both turn to look at their menu’s, though it clearly didn’t take long for Cody to pick what he wanted. Obi-Wan spent a few more minutes before deciding and placing the menu down. In the meantime, a waitress had bought a decanter of Jawa juice to the table.

Obi-Wan went to speak but Cody beat him to the punch, clearly intending to bring the whole Mandalorian subject once again.

“So, the Mando thing?”

Obi-Wan’s blush flared again and Cody laughed, “My father works for the Coruscant government and he does a fair bit with the Mandalore leaders. I ended up spending a lot of my time growing up surrounded by Mandalorians and their culture. I also focused on Mandalorian literature when doing my Basic Literature course at university. And then I ended up working for my father as a translator.”

“A translator?” Cody’s eyebrow raised.

“I learnt Mando’a which made my father’s life much easier.”

Cody went to speak but was interrupted by the waitress returning to take their order. They waited until the woman had left before Cody turned back to him.

“ _Gar jorhaa'ir mando'a_?”

Obi-Wan smirked as he leaned forward, “ _Elek_.”

It was Cody’s turn to smirk as he too leant forward, “Well, this makes everything even more interesting.”

“More interested? Not interested enough before?”

Cody laughed and sat back, “Oh, I’ve been interested since I saw the paint job on your shop.”

Moments later, their food was bought out to them and they began eating. Obi-Wan starting with a traditional spicy Mandalorian broth and Cody has a fusion of Mandalorian and Coruscanti noodles. They made further small talk as they ate and it was towards the end of the meal that Dex reappeared with spiked milkshakes in hand.

“For my favourite customers tonight.”

Cody tried to refuse but it didn’t work and Dex left with a smile on his face.

“So, my dear, tattoos then?”

Cody sipped his milkshake and leant forward having finished his meal, “My father taught me everything he knew about tattoos when I was in my teens so it was only natural that I ended up taking over one of his studios. Not to mention, I do really love my job. Best decision I ever made was asking my father if I could have that studio.”

“So tattooing was your first job?”

“Technically, I guess, if you exclude the few years I did in the Mandalorian military.”

Obi-Wan’s eyebrows lifted in surprise suddenly, “The military? I know the Pacifist Mandalorian Party are currently leading the country, their military’s pretty small from what I remember.”

“Well, I was in the military before the Pacifists were in charge. Before the Death Watch movement as well.” Cody scratched at his scar before continuing, “Actually, the Pacifists and Death Watch movements were the reasons my family left our country. My father wanted to keep us on the traditional roots but we knew that Death Watch was… a step too far.”

Obi-Wan snorted as he finished his glass, “You could certainly say that, dear heart.”

Cody finished up with his milkshake and after a look from Obi-Wan, called Dex over to pay the bill. There was a little discussion on who would pay but they ended up making a deal were Cody paid for tonight and Obi-Wan would pay for the next one. Obi-Wan smirked when Cody made this suggestion but enthusiastically agreed.

The pair left the diner, arms hooked together again as the slowly wandered down the street. It had gotten much darker now and this area of the city didn’t have a lot of artificially lighting, allowing the starts to be ever so slightly visible. The roads were quiet and there were a few other couples out walking at this time as well. Obi-Wan could just see a little of his breath coming out as well and found himself tucking his body closer to Cody’s.

“So, how are we ending this night then? Kiss goodbye or after drinks?” Obi-Wan decided to pluck the courage up and ask.

Out the corner of his eye, Obi-Wan saw Cody smirk, “To be completely honest, I had every intention of asking you up for a drink. But, I do have to get up early tomorrow to show your little sister around the studio so…”

“Oh yeah, not the smartest idea.” Obi-Wan laughed, “I love my sister but that’s not something she’ll let me go for. Not on the first date.”

Cody laughed along with him and nodded, “We’ll just have to plan the next night out at a more convenient time.”

They came to a stop outside Obi-Wan’s shop and Cody turned to face the older man. Obi-Wan unhooked his arm from Cody’s elbow only to wind his arms around Cody’s neck, standing with his face inches apart.

“Like maybe Saturday? I know the studio shuts early and you’re not open on Sundays.” Obi-Wan’s eyes flickered down to Cody’s lips and back up again.

“Oh, thought about this have you?” Cody’s own arms had slid into place around Obi-Wan’s waist as he smirked, “To add to that idea, I can cook if you come over?”

“That is a brilliant idea, darling.”

Sharing a grin, Obi-Wan leaned forward to lock his lips with Cody’s and lean into the man’s body. Cody kissed back, slightly gripping Obi-Wan’s waist. The scarred man worked Obi-Wan’s mouth open and delved his tongue inside, causing Obi-Wan to moan. Blushing, the older man pulled back with a soft smile on his face and one of Cody’s hands came up to brush a thumb under his eye.

“Goodnight, _mesh’la._ ” Cody had a slight smirk on his face as he spoke.

“And to you, _cyar’ika_.”


	8. Ahsoka's First Day

**Cody**

The caf machine was clicking away as Cody shuffled around his apartment with only sweatpants on in the early hours of the morning. His night before had ended in a shower with his hand wrapped around himself, definitely a result of his and Obi-Wan’s kiss goodnight.

The machine finally finished making the caf and deposited it into the large mug that was placed below and Cody finished shoving down his last piece of toast. Cody took his mug with him as he went back to his bedroom to get dressed. He choked down a scalding hot sip of caf as he threw on black jeans and a golden-orange t-shirt that had the logo of the studio on it.

The scarred man made his way down the stairs and through the door that led to the studio. He started by going around flicking lights on and turning the reception computer on, as well as the air-con as it was getting into the warmer months now. His brothers would deal with their stations and machines when they got in but Cody went to his station, getting whatever he could preprepare. He checked any emails or social media messages regarding appointments, making notes of people to call to get them booked in and take deposits.

Time must have passed much quicker than he realised because suddenly he was jumping at the sound of a knock on the glass front door. Looking up, Cody saw Ahsoka standing just outside with a bag slung on her shoulder, takeaway cups in hand and a huge grin on her face.

Cody smiled softly as he stood from his desk and went to unlock the front door.

Ahsoka rushed in with an air of buzzing excitement around her and handed a cup to Cody, “Good morning! Padme said you pretend to like plain black caf but your favourite is actually black caf with two shots of salted caramel syrup.”

Cody took the caf gratefully and took a deep sip, not caring about the heat from the cup. He directed Ahsoka to put her bag down at an empty station next to his own.

“ _Vaar’tur,_ Ahsoka. I’ll show you around the studio before I get you settled in.”

Cody took the young girl around and towards the end of the small tour, Waxer and Boil came in giving their own hello’s in Mando’a.

Finally, Cody sat Ahsoka to her new station.

“So, today, I just want you to look at some of these emails from previous clients of mine. Some emails will give you reference photos, some will just give you a description of what they’re after. I would like you to do at least 3 drawings from each of the client’s requests. Don’t mind how many requests you get through, there’s no rush. Today I just want to see how you work, examples of your art style and your take on things.” Cody said as he perched on the edge of the desk, “We close at 7 today but you can go before then if you want to, you’re more than welcome to grab some food for lunch but we can’t have food in the tattoo area so make sure you take a seat in the back room. You can have like a bottled drink but make sure the lids kept on. Tattoo studios have to be kept sterile so, yeah, pretty strict food and drink rules.”

Ahsoka nodded enthusiastically and her grin hadn’t once shifted from her face, “Cody, I just wanted to thank you. Really, this is so cool and I’m so excited.”

Cody smiled back at the girl and dropped a hand onto her shoulder, “Hey, now. You might end up being good business for me so it’s great to have you here.”

Cody gave Ahsoka his laptop with the emails he’d chosen typed up and saved to a document so Ahsoka could look through and pick the emails she liked the idea of working on. Clients started to arrive for their appointments and the three Fett artists got to work.

\--

Cody’s neck was aching by the time he was done with his three clients and he stood up, stretching his back and his neck out. His last client had taken slightly longer than planned, the white highlights having been the final straw of man for him. Turning around, he noticed Padme standing over by Ahsoka’s desk looking down at her work. Cody hadn’t even noticed his friend come in but sure enough there were takeaway cups on the front desk.

Cody cleaned away his pots of used ink and removed the bio-degradable chair cover, before making his way over to Ahsoka’s desk. Ahsoka had gotten through 3 emails already, the first two had only been smaller pieces and the third was a large request. As was the fourth that she was working on.

“Hey, Cody. These ones are done if you want to take a look.” Ahsoksa said with a little bit of hesitancy.

Cody smiled and rubbed a hand on Ahsoka’s shoulder in reassurance. He then picked up the fluttering pages and flicked through to have a look at the work.

And damn, it was good. The art definitely had a style to it that was different to the other guys at the studio. Which would be good to have more variety to the team. The style was black and grey based with a heavy influence of Togruta style and culture, with bold lines and swopping angles. But with each of the requests, the design style was altered to perfectly suit.

Looking over his shoulder, Cody called his brother’s over to have a look at the art. Waxer and Boil plucked the pages from their older brother’s hands and had a look themselves. There was one design that Cody himself really like. It was a solar system design with the curling, spiked Togruta marks connecting the stars and planets, heavy detail within the plant surfaces. It was completely different from the design that Cody had made for the client at the time but not less as good.

Without a doubt, Cody was going to keep Ahsoka on. Obviously, as long as she wanted the same thing. All of this meant Cody needed to go and have a chat with father as well.

Cody dropped the artwork back down on the desk when his brother’s had returned it with a hand on Ahsoka’s back, “This is absolutely amazing, Ahsoka. Good job, seriously. Keep on like this and you’re going to end up with a good job here.”

“Really?” Ahsoka’s eyes widened, “Of course, I’ll keep going. Thanks, Cody!”

Padme laughed at Ahsoka’s eagerness as she stepped back to stand next to Cody. Her right arm lifted to rest her elbow on his shoulder as she grinned away.

“I see you got yourself a little apprentice.”

Cody smirked and leaned his hip on his own desk which sat behind him, “Apparently. I’ll still have to run it through _buir_ though.” 

Cody and Padme went quiet as they watched Waxer walk over and start talking to Ahsoka. Trust Waxer to warm up the young girl. After a little while it dawned on Cody that Padme had probably come over for more than to just check on Ahsoka. Sure enough, out of the corner of his eye, he realised his best friend was watching him with a sly smirk on her face and a menacing twinkle in her eye. 

He sighed and tried to slide out from under her arm to getaway. Padme just uncurled her elbow and draped her arm across the back of his shoulders, her fingers a light pressure on his other side. A reminder that there was a chance of his escaping what was coming. 

“So,” she started with a voice full of humour, “how’d your date go?”

“It was amazing.”

“And?”

“And how’re things going with Anakin?”

Padme barked a laugh, “Oh no, no, no. We’re not talking about my texting. Although we have planned to meet up.”

“Oh re-”

“Cody. No. You.”

Cody sighed with realisation that there really was no way out of this.

“We went to Dex’s and it really was an amazing night. Chatted about the studio and my old time in the military. About why he apparently has a Mandalorian kink.”

Padme giggled, “What?”

Cody just nodded as he continued, “And then we walked back. Kiss goodnight, date completed.”

“Just a kiss?” One of Padme’s eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, well, he has to open his shop at 9 and I had Ahsoka coming over at half 8. Didn’t want the little ones first day here to be met with Obi-Wan leaving my apartment in last nights clothes.”

“True, I suppose.” Padme shrugged and released her hold on Cody’s shoulders. “Well, in that case, onto me.”

Cody huffed a laugh and adjusted until he was fully sitting on the corner of his desk. “Yes, tell me everything.”

“Cody, he’s so sweet and so easy to talk to. It took him a few hints but I guess he finally plucked up the courage to arrange a date.” Padme blushed, “We’re going to dinner on Saturday.”

“Padme, that’s great! I’m pleased for you, _vod_.”

Padme sat next to Cody on the desk with a big smile on her face and leant her head on his shoulder. Cody’s arm came around his friend to rest on her arm and he leant his head on top of hers.

“Well,” Padme started, “here’s to us, bestie. Growing up and getting real lives.”


End file.
